On September 2, Treff Owen Carpenter (28) fell 70 feet to his death while setting up a top-rope climb on the Boulderado crag, located in Boulder Canyon. He was a member of a climbing group of eight, and the most experienced climber in the group. He volunteered to hike to the top of the route to set up an anchor to help an off-route climber. While searching for an anchor, he fell to the ground and was fatally injured. Treff came to rest on the road, where others secured the scene and administered basic first aid until a nurse and EMT arrived from nearby. Nederland EMTs were on scene within 10 minutes, but were not able to keep him alive. (Source: Daniel Lack, RMRG.)

Analysis

According to Mountainproject.com, “This southwest-facing wall is a [common] place to take a first-time climber. The staging area and the anchor access make it a potentially hazardous climbing location for the unwary climber. It has a number of easy climbs in close proximity up a clean open wall. Anchor placements are a little tricky, though; the ledge up top, while safe, does not afford many things to set up an anchor with. Recommend bringing some long slings and some cams to do the job right. Top-rope access is via a trail up the talus just left of the rock. Be extremely careful accessing the anchors above these climbs if you top-rope here. Lethal accidents have occurred too often here.”